


So Far From Home

by HyperactivePuppy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Crying Lance (Voltron), Gen, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Whump, Lonely Lance (Voltron), Sick Lance (Voltron), Sickfic, Vomiting, emeto, puke, stomach bug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 10:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19130563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperactivePuppy/pseuds/HyperactivePuppy
Summary: Lance is homesick and missing his family. On top of that, he gets hit with a nasty stomach bug at a celebration one of the planets is holding. Shiro cares for him.





	So Far From Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jyoshamatsu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jyoshamatsu/gifts).



The mission started out okay. They flew to the planet in their lions, leaving Allura and Coran on board the castle.

Lance had been excited for the mission, mainly because the planet had a lot of water and Blue loved it. He always sensed his lion’s emotions and they wore off on him.

But when they reached the planet, he started to feel…weird. It was subtle. Not really _bad_  per se but unpleasant. It felt like when you drank a whole soft drink really fast and then the carbonation made you feel all bloated and burpy. Not pleasant, but doable. Why exactly he felt like this, he had no clue. As far as he knew, there were no soft drinks in space.

“Lance! Come on!” Shiro called from where he and the other paladins were gathered.

Lance’s head snapped up, vision unfocusing for a moment before his eyes adjusted to the bright light. He jogged over to the others, wincing when it made his stomach slosh uncomfortably.

“You need to pay attention. We’re going into the caverns now and its dark and dangerous,” Keith said, voice stiff.

Shiro sighed. Not five minutes into the mission and they were already bickering. 

“Alright,” he said, cutting off any response Lance could make. “Coran said these caverns are a maze, so we have to be very vigilant so that we don’t get lost. We’re going to be using chalk to mark the path we take so that we can find our way back.” He handed pieces of chalk to each of the paladins.

“And we’re looking for a fish, right?” Hunk added.

“Yes. The silver ghost fish. They only live at the bottom of the deepest pools in these caverns and are sacred to the inhabitants,” Pidge explained. “They like shiny things so we’re going to lure them out with coins.”

“We know, Pidge,” Lance said, cutting her off. “Can we just get going?” He shouldn’t have snapped at Pidge like that, but he was cranky from feeling gross. He just wanted to get this over with.

She just shrugged, undeterred. “Okay.”

The mission went okay. Trying to navigate through the confusing tunnels and lure in ghost fish distracted Lance from the feeling he had earlier. It wasn’t gone, but he just didn’t notice it as much. Until they got back.

Pidge proudly carried the silver ghost fish in a tank, grinning broadly. She had been the one to catch it in the end, winning the competition between the four younger paladins.

Lance couldn’t find it in himself to care. Which was strange because he was usually the first one to jump at a competition of any kind. But he just felt…bad…

He had been so excited to see the ocean again—even if it wasn’t the earth’s ocean. But now that he was there, standing on the purple sand, his heart ached with a thousand emotions.

Home. He missed home. His mamá and papá. His siblings. All of the animals. The ocean sent him right back, bringing with it a surge of emotion so powerful he couldn’t contain a soft sob of distress.

He sank down in the sand, eyes roving out over the pink water and up to the sky. It was so different from earth, but so similar at the same time. And somehow that made everything hurt more.

Footsteps padded across the sand, so light Lance barely heard them, but a soft cough gave the person away. Maybe they did that on purpose. Lance didn’t know.

“Shiro,” he said, twisting his head to look up at their leader.

Shiro smiled, expression soft. “You doing okay? The others were wondering where you went. They’re starting the ceremony for the ghost fish.”

Lance had been talking about the ceremony the whole day. He loved that sort of thing. A chance to laugh and talk and forget about the burdens that had been placed on their shoulders.

“Oh,” he said quietly. “Yeah.”

Shiro frowned. “You sure? You don’t seem yourself…”

Lance opened his mouth to respond, but stopped when instead of words, a rush of air left his mouth. He blushed, covering his mouth as he burped again. “Sorry…’scuse me.”

Shiro was looking even more concerned, but he seemed to let the matter drop. “Come on, let’s go find the others.”

Lance followed him into the building where the ceremony was being held. All of the other paladins were already there and they all looked up in surprise when he walked in with Shiro.

“Lance!” Hunk called, making his way over to his friend. “Where were you? The ceremony’s about to start!”

“Ah…sorry. Guess I just lost track of time.” Lance didn’t meet his eyes, instead focussing on the frilly drapery that seemed to cover every surface in the grand hall. He was pretty sure if he looked at Hunk he would start crying.

“Okay.” Hunk didn’t sound convinced.

Lance winced. He hated lying to his best friend, but he just couldn’t talk about this now. Paladins of Voltron weren’t supposed to get homesick.

The ceremony started with speeches, all of which Lance found insanely boring. Part of that might be because each speech sounded nearly identical. Or else it was due to the increasing churning in his gut. Lance didn’t know when exactly the unpleasant feeling turned to nausea, but he was now sure he would not be eating anything at the feast.

His stomach kept gurgling and the unpleasant burps were growing more and more frequent. He glanced across the hall, wondering where the bathroom was, or if this planet even _had_  a bathroom. That was a very concerning thought…

“Lance!” A voice hissed and Lance looked to find Keith watching him in concern. “You okay?” he mouthed.

Lance nodded, giving him a thumbs up. No need to alert Keith. He would be fine! Just a little upset stomach, that was all. He just had to get through these infuriating speeches and then…oh god…the feast.

Lance’s stomach flipped at the thought, contents sloshing nauseatingly as if to say _um…no. You will not be making it through that feast if I have anything to say about it._

At long last the speeches came to a close and the five Paladins made their way to a table for the feast.

Lance was glad to finally be sitting down, but the prospect of food was not a pleasant one.

His stomach was churning even worse and he was pretty sure Shiro had noticed the burps. Stupid Space Dad and his ability to notice _everything_!

The meal was buffet style, with plates piled high with every kind of strange alien food you could imagine lining every inch of the large table.

Lance’s stomach was in turmoil.

While everyone else filled their plates, Lance picked up his glass and sipped tentatively at it. It tasted kind of like pineapple juice but with a more bitter aftertaste. Not bad. He could live with that. As long as he didn’t have to eat any actual food, he would be fine.

“Dude, why are you not eating?! This is delicious!” Hunk held up a bowl of what kind of looked like pasta and pushed it over to Lance.

Great. Now he’d have to eat or they would get suspicious.

Grimacing, Lance spooned some of the stuff onto his plate and took a bite. At any other time, he would have said it was good, but at this point all he could taste were the acidic burps.

Nausea rose, crawling up his throat in the form of more foul-tasting burps. No no no…this couldn’t happen here. Not now.

“Um…” he gulped out, pushing back his chair and standing shakily. “I’m gonna go see if I can find a bathroom.” He smiled, though he was pretty sure it turned out more like a grimace, and speed walked across the hall before any of the others could speak.

Bathroom bathroom bathroom… He _needed_  to find one. Like _now_.

Lance hurried down the hall, one arm snaking around his middle to try and ease the nauseous churning.

Ten more steps and he had to stop, stomach demanding attention as it gave a vicious heave. He stiffened, the horrible realisation that he might not make it creeping through his mind. No no no! He couldn’t let that happen.

He forced himself to keep moving, other hand now clamped over his mouth as he broke into a run.

It was close, but he managed to make it to a bathroom, shoving open the door far too forcefully and collapsing to his knees in front of the toilet.

Alien toilets were weird, but Lance didn’t have long to think about that as he bent his head over the bowl, gagging over the strange pink water. A burp rolled up his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn’t have to see the way it made the water ripple.

He was so incredibly nauseous, and yet no matter how hard his stomach heaved, he couldn’t seem to actually bring anything up. After ten minutes of fruitless heaving, Lance was in tears. He wanted his mum. The thought made him shaky with guilt and shame, but he felt so vulnerable curled on the bathroom floor of a strange planet, all alone.

His stomach gave another heave and he scrabbled at the edge of the toilet seat, trying to pull himself upright. Acid licked at the back of his throat and he gagged against his will, heaving up a rush of vomit before he could get himself fully situated over the toilet bowl.

Lance let out a miserable whimper, drowning out the soft knock on the stall door. He heaved again, gasping as vomit shot out of his nose as well, stinging and biting.

“Oh Lance…” The voice was deep and gentle. Shiro.

A hand dropped to his shoulder, warm and comforting. Lance leaned into the touch.

“S-sorry I left the feast,” Lance mumbled, bringing a hand up to try and stifle a particularly loud burp. “Jus’ didn’ feel good.”

“Yeah…I can see that.” Shiro sighed and rubbed up and down Lance’s sweaty back with his flesh hand. “Just take it easy. Breathe, Bud.”

Lance whimpered, his whole body shuddering as his stomach strained to retch up more of its contents. “Tryin’,” he mumbled, gulping for breath. “Can’ stop throwin’ up.” He leaned over again, heaving miserably. His bangs stuck to his sweaty forehead and he was suddenly really glad he didn’t have longer hair like Keith. That would be a nightmare when puking.

He chuckled, but the sound morphed into a sob half way through. “Never be’n so glad for short hair. My mamá used to say that whenever I got sick. Since my sisters had long hair. Said it was much easier.” He swallowed thickly, voice choking up with tears. “I miss her. Miss her so much Sh’ro.” He was shaking, teeth chattering and clacking. He wished he’d thought to bring his jacket, but he left in all the way back in the dining hall.

Shiro sighed, wrapping his arm around Lance and pulling him close.

At first, Lance resisted, gripping the toilet bowl with both hands. “No Shiro. ‘m gross.” But he couldn’t hold out for long. He just wanted comfort. Shiro wasn’t his mamá, but he was there and offering comfort.

He brought a hand up to his mouth, stifling a sob. “I just. I know ‘m supposed to be strong an’ stuff. But it’s hard. I miss home. I miss my family. I miss _earth_.”

Shiro hummed softly, running a hand through Lance’s hair. “Shh… It’s okay to be vulnerable sometimes. Its okay to miss your family. Don’t be ashamed of that, Lance.”

Lance whimpered, sniffing hard. “Jus’ this planet…kinda reminds me of home. The ocean an’ stuff. Even though its pink.” He chuckled. “My little niece would love it.”

Shiro smiled. Lance seemed to be calming down a little. That was good. First step. He let Lance breathe for a while, still held securely in his arms.

After a while, Shiro straightened up, shifting so he could face Lance. “How are you doing?”

Lance shrugged. “Bit better. Still feel kinda sick though.”

Shiro nodded. He had expected that. “I think maybe you caught some kind of stomach bug…You looked a little pale earlier too.”

Lance sighed and nodded. “Yeah…didn’t feel good all day.”

“You know what I’m going to say, right? You need to speak up if you aren’t feeling well. Don’t turn into Keith.”

Lance smiled through his tears. “’m not as bad as Keith. Just…I didn’t want to bother anyone. And I only felt a little sick. More like…weird. You know?” He looked up at Shiro, wiping at his eyes. “Sorry. I must look pretty gross right now. Don’t think I can really go back to the feast…” He really didn’t want to either. He had a feeling if he saw food right now he’d immediately be sent back to puking his guts up.

“Yeah, no. We’re going to find somewhere you can rest until the ceremony is over. This place has lots of spare rooms.” Shiro stood up, stretching out his stiff legs. “You okay to stand?”

Lance nodded, shakily getting to his feet. He felt really dizzy, but managed to steady himself against the wall. “Let’s go before I throw up again,” he urged, face already paling a few shades.

Shiro smiled and reached over to support Lance, using his flesh arm to hold him steady while he pushed the door open with the other.

They found a quiet room with a large couch and its own ensuite bathroom. Shiro wasn’t really sure they were allowed to use it, but there was no one around, so he didn’t bother asking. It was more important that Lance was comfortable.

Lance flopped down on the couch, burying his face in the cushions and groaning miserably. He was shivering again, stomach sloshing with nausea. “Nhhhh…Shiro?”

“Hold on a moment, I’m just going to get you some water.”

“N’ no,” Lance called urgently. “Now.” He struggled to sit up on the couch, cupping a hand over his mouth as he suddenly heaved.

“Ah, shit!” Shiro launched himself at the couch, snatching up a rubbish bin and holding it in front of Lance’s face just in time as he brought up a mouthful of brownish liquid.

“Ughhnnn,” Lance groaned, spitting into the bucket. “This sucks.”

“I know. I know,” Shiro soothed, brushing back his sweaty hair. “But you’ll be okay. Just need to get some rest. I’m going to stay here with you until the feast is over. Then we can head back to the castle.”

Lance burped up more liquid into the bucket and nodded woozily. “Think ‘m just gonna lay down for a bit.” He sunk back into the cushions and Shiro had to grab the bucket quickly so the contents didn’t spill all over Lance and the floor.

“You do that,” he chuckled, going to rinse out the bucket.

By the time he returned from the bathroom, clean bucket in hand, Lance was already asleep, snoring softly.

“Sleep well,” he soothed, and settled down to watch the Blue Paladin.


End file.
